Medicare's Drug Program Enrollment Up, Costs Down

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Hayes believes several things need to be done to improve the program. "It's discouraging that the administration wants to pat itself on the back rather than make those changes," he said.

For one, the program needs to be less complex so that seniors have an easier time choosing a drug plan, Hayes said. In addition, drug plans need to be prevented from lumping out-of-pocket costs onto the sickest people. As an example, Hayes pointed to the high co-pays associated with chemotherapy.

Moreover, Medicare needs to be able to negotiate prices with drug companies, which it is currently prohibited from doing, Hayes said. "The program continues to pump tens of billion of dollars into the drug market, but cannot use that market power to drive prices of medicine [down] to worldwide levels," he said.

While Weems touted Part D's success, the Bush administration is about to ask for large cuts in the growth of Medicare -- cuts that go far beyond those proposed last year, The New York Times reported Thursday. In addition, President Bush will also ask for cuts in Medicaid, the newspaper said.

According to the Times, cuts in Medicare will total $6 billion in the next year and $91 billion from 2009 to 2013. For Medicaid, proposed cuts would top $1.2 billion next year and almost $14 billion over five years.

Most of the Medicare savings would come from reduced payments to hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, ambulances and home care agencies, the article said.

More information

For more information on Medicare part D, visit the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.